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Talking about Corey Ballentine chokes up Giants defensive coordinator

Giants DBs coach Everett Withers said the team hopes to have sixth-round pick Corey Ballentine up in New Jersey by Monday.

The organization had encouraged Ballentine to stay home in Topeka, Kansas, and grieve after enduring a senseless tragedy on April 27. Ballentine’s best friend and Washburn teammate Dwane Simmons was killed, and Ballentine was shot in the rear-end just hours after he’d been drafted by the Giants.

“For something like that to happen to a young man on one of the most exciting days of his life and to have his best friend killed, that’s got to be a lot,” Withers said Wednesday. “The organization has done a really good job of helping him through the process. It’s gonna be a process for him. But we’re excited about getting him. When you watch him on tape, you don’t see a Division II player. You see a talented football player that can run, jump, cover.”

Defensive coordinator James Bettcher got choked up talking about Ballentine. He said he has been in touch with the speedy defensive back and that “it makes you emotional thinking about it because that is not a good kid, that’s a great kid.”

Corey Ballentine was shot and his best friend killed hours after he was drafted by the Giants. (Michael Conroy/AP)

Bettcher said mainly he has tried to assure Ballentine not to worry about being here, not to fret that his absence in any way would set him back as far as an opportunity with this team.

“To me, just ease his mind that he’s not missing,” Bettcher said. “That he’s not there where he needs to be or handling personally what he needs to handle and other people think he should be somewhere else. I think Pat (Shurmur) has really done a great job making that evident to him and out in public.”

Withers said Ballentine is a high-character person and “he has a lot of energy about him.”

“When you talk to him on the phone, he kind of comes through the phone,” Withers said. “We’re excited to get him here and get him going.”